Ottawa denies transfer to man in U.S. drug case

Yves LeBon’s troubles in the United States started at 8:25 a.m. on Aug. 22, 2007, as he drove a rented Nissan Altima on Interstate 80 in Henry County, Ill., and reached for a water bottle.

In that moment of distraction his car swerved, catching the eye of State Trooper Andy Fratzke, who followed the Montreal man for a mile before pulling him over.

LeBon held up the water bottle and said the swerve came when he reached into a cooler to get it. He gave the trooper his Quebec driver’s licence and waited while it was checked.

The trooper only issued a written warning for the sloppy driving but then asked for permission to look inside the trunk. LeBon agreed and opened it with his keychain remote.

Inside, Trooper Fratzke found camping gear and 119 vacuum-sealed bricks of cocaine, each weighing about a kilogram. They had a street value of about $13-million.

Four years after making the fateful decision to let the trooper search his car, time he has spent in a U.S. prison, LeBon objects to the Canadian government’s refusal to let him finish his sentence in Canada.

Vic Toews, Minister of Public Safety, denied LeBon’s request under the International Transfer of Offenders Act.

Citing LeBon’s refusal to reveal whom he was working for in his high-volume drug operation, the government declared he is a risk for engaging in organized crime once he returns home and benefits from Canada’s more generous parole allowance.

The fact that LeBon was a veteran truck driver working from the Port of Montreal made officials even more suspicious of mob links.

LeBon appealed that decision to the Federal Court of Canada.

In a ruling last week that upholds the Minister of Public Safety’s right to place public safety ahead of an inmate’s rehabilitation, Justice Michel Shore dismissed LeBon’s case.

It is another in a string of judicial defeats for the wayward trucker.

After losing his arguments in U.S. court that both the road stop and the subsequent search of his car trunk were illegal, LeBon pleaded guilty to possession with intent to distribute cocaine and improper entry into the United States by an alien.

After a hearing, where a French interpreter helped him with legal terms, he was sentenced to 10 years in prison in July 2008.

It was just four months after his plea that LeBon made his request for a transfer to Canada.

Once prisoners come to Canada, they are immediately handled under Canadian penal rules, meaning they are eligible for parole far sooner than they would in the United States. The U.S. federal system does not have parole and a transfer could cut about one third off of his incarceration.

The U.S. Department of Justice approved LeBon’s request in March 2009. In August 2010, Mr. Toews turned it down, citing several reasons.

The crime denotes “serious criminal organization activity” where “other accomplices were involved who were not apprehended,” the Minister wrote. LeBon did not co-operate with police in their investigation or identify co-conspirators and, in his request for a transfer, still declined to provide authorities with the identities of any accomplices.

The Minister also noted the size of the haul: “The offence involved a large quantity of cocaine, which is destructive to society,” Mr. Toews wrote.

A Correctional Service of Canada report noted LeBon’s stash “was large enough that one could believe he was dealing with people fairly well-placed in the criminal underworld . considering the known illicit activities at the Port of Montreal, [LeBon’s] long-term employment as a truck driver at said port may shed some light on the various opportunities that led to his involvement in the transport of drugs,” court records say.

About the only thing the Minister found redeeming in his application was his family ties in Canada, particularly that his wife and son remain supportive.

LeBon, undaunted, sought a judicial review of Mr. Toews’ decision.

Recent cases on the International Transfer of Offenders Act have held that the Minister has a great deal of latitude in deciding who to let back into Canada and who to leave in the U.S. prison until their sentence is complete.

A case last year identified that the security of Canada and prevention of terrorism or organized crime activity were among the valid considerations when a Minister makes these decisions.

“The [transfer agreement] does not create or recognize a ‘right’ of Canadian offenders to return to Canada,” Justice Shore wrote, and a transfer remains a “discretionary privilege.”

“In determining whether he will approve a transfer request by a Canadian citizen, the minister may weigh the corollary risks and obligations of undertaking to administer an applicant’s foreign sentence in Canada.”

Justice Shore said Mr. Toews came to a rational decision in a transparent manner based on the facts of the case.

“His reasons are complete, intelligible and sufficient,” he wrote. “Unless the Minister’s decision is unreasonable, the court should not intervene.”